Amusement device



Pa'tentecl Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to an amusement device ability of a turtles movements cause such races to be much more entertaining than races between other types of animalswhich will run at a more or less 'constant speed.

Since the turtles are relatively small, and the race track relatively short, devices for-turtle rac-' ing in the past have only permitted the races to be observed by a relatively small number of spectators. Furthermore, some dimculty has been encountered in the sport of turtle racing in causing all the turtles inthe race to start running substantially at the sameinstant.

With the foregoing considerations in mind it is an object of the present invention to provide a race track andstarting gate forturtle races which will enable a race to be viewed by a large number of people, and which will insure all of the turtles in the race commencing their run at substantially the same time.

The above and other objects of the invention which will be pointed out'herein'after, or which will become apparent as the description proceeds, are accomplished by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which the following description sets forth an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of the device.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of the device, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention a plurality of substantially horizontal trackways are provided at different elevations. These trackways may be in stepped relation as in the embodiment of Figures 1 to- 3 inclusive, or they may be directly superposed as in the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5.

The trackways are generally of channel shape so as to confine the movement of the turtle to a well defined path. Communicating with each of the trackways is a trackway which is inclined at a steep enough angle so'that the turtle placed thereon will slide down, and each of the inclined trackways is provided with a starting gate or baffle to hold the turtle against sliding down the inclined trackway. All of the baflles or gates are connected for simultaneous actuation, so that by a single movement-all the'turtl'es are released so that they slide down the inclined trackways on to the horizontal trackways. 'The slight bump they sustain upon contact with the horizontal trackways causes them to commence their travel therealong.

Referring now to the drawings and describing first the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, there is shown a stepped configuration which may comprise a piece of sheet metal suitably for-med ona press brake to provide in effect a plurality of treads I0 which constitute the floors of the respective trackways, and a plurality of risers I l, which constitute one of the side gates for the respective trackways. To prevent the turtles from falling off one trackway on to the one the next step below, and to constitute the other side guide, there is providedfor each trackway a transparent plate [2 which maybe of glass, transparent plastic or similar material. The plates [2 are held in place by means of the clips l3 which are secured to the respective risers Ii. Thus, a turtle running along in trackway It) is confined to the trackway by the riser I l on one side, and by the transparent plate [2 on the other. By virtue of the transparency of the plates l2, the turtles on the various tracks may be viewed without hindrance from the front of the device, as seen in Figure 2, or from the left as seen in Figure 3. The device thus far described may be mounted upon any convenient framework, indicated generally at l4. At the finish ends of the trackways there is provided a barrier l5 to prevent the turtles from falling off the ends of the trackways.

At the starting ends of the tracks there are provided the inclined trackways 16 which are also of stepped configuration and which are separated by the risers I1, and which may also, if desired, be provided with transparent sides, although this is not particularly necessary.

Pivotally mounted in brackets is is an inclined rod 19, on which are rigidly mounted the gate elements, or bafiles, 20, one extending into each inclined trackway It.

In use, with the gate elements 20 in the position shown in the drawings, the turtles are placed in the respective inclined trackway it above the gate elements 28. When the race is to be started the rod I9 is simply rotated to raise the gate ele- 3 ments 2!), whereupon the turtles slide down the respective inclined trackway [6 on to the horizontal trackways I ll, so that incident to the slight bump they sustain upon contact with the trackways In, they will start their travel along the horizontal trackways.

The inclined trackway may be secured to the horizontal trackway assembly in any suitable manner, as by means of the bracket 2], as well as by riveting, welding, or the like.

The embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 is similar to that of Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, except that here the trackways are disposed one directly above the other. Thus the trackways may comprise the channel members lfla to each side of which may be secured a transparent plate I2a as by means of the brackets I311. The various trackways Illa may be welded or otherwise secured to the upright rods 22. The inclined trackways lfia may be secured to the horizontal trackways Na in any desired manner and in this instance have been shown as having the transparent side bafiles or risers I'Ia which act as side guides for the inclined trackways.

In this embodiment the various gate elements a are rigidly mounted on the rods 19a, which are pivotally mounted in the risers Ila, and which also carry fixed thereto the crank elements 24 which in turn are pivoted to the actuating link 25. It will be clear that upon downward movement of the link 25, all of the gate elements 20a will swing upwardly simultaneously.

It will be clear that the general principles of the two embodiments are the same and that both embodiments have the advantages outlined above, although they differ in specific details. It will also be clear that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. No limitation is therefore intended except for those set forth in the claims which follow.

The invention having nOW been fully described, what is believed to be new, and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An amusement device comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal trackways of generally channel shape having sides disposed in parallel relation at different elevations, a number of inclined trackways equal in number to said horizontal trackways and each communicating respectively with one of said horizontal tra'ckways,

4 said inclined trackways being also of generally channel shape, a number of gate elements equal to the number of said trackways, one of said gate elements being disposed respectively in each of said inclined trackways, all of said gate elements being connected to a common member, whereby upon actuation of said common member all of said gate elements are actuated simultaneously.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which one side at least of the channels constituting said horizontal trackways is of transparent material.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which said horizontal trackways are disposed in stepped relation defined by steps and risers whereby the riser between adjacent trackways constitutes a side guide for the lower of said adjacent trackways.

4. A device according to claim 3, in which there is secured to each riser a transparent plate to constitute a side guide for the trackway next above.

5. A device according to claim 4, in which all of said gate elements are secured to a, common rod, upon rotation of which all of said gate elements are simultaneously actuated.

6. A device according to claim 1, in which said horizontal trackways are disposed one above the other, and in which one side at least of the channels constituting said trackways is of transparent material.

'7. A device according to claim 6, in which each of said gate elements is pivotally mounted in its respective inclined trackway, and in which a common actuating member is connected to each of said pivotal mountings to actuate all of said gate elements simultaneously.

8. A device according to claim 7, in which a crank is secured to the pivotal mounting of each of said gate elements, and in which all of said cranks are pivoted to a single actuating link.

AMBROSE W. GROH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,164,213 Levenson June 27, 1939 2,330,899 Levenstein Oct. 5, 1943 

